Isn't it shocking...

[SushiSheep]

... just how much crap can come out of one drawer/cupboard/wardrobe!

On a mission to do a DIY 'Sort Your Life Out' à la Stacey & Co.

What the feck possessed me 😑

90% of the house (3 floors) is done.
Just onto DC bedrooms now as they're at Granny's because, while I'm daft, I'm not stupid - can't be doing with all the
"Ooooh I want that!" and dragging everything I've just merrily lobbed back out of the bins.

Send help please MN.
And alcohol.

We're moving soon and even though I declutter regularly I'm still dreading the amount of stuff we have to pack!

Is it all heading to landfill

Will be shared between

Freecycle
Charity shops
Neighbours children
School

(LOTS of books, chunky vehicles, dress up costumes, board games, jigsaws)

Only some empty boxes (why??!) have gone out to the recycling bin just now.

@GalileoHumpkins All the best with your impending move!

Is there a need for the bitchy comment?
On other threads, people are slated for having a messy house. The OP is actively working against that. Well done to her.

OP, it's astonishing what we keep because we might need it some day and the years later realise we've never missed it. Good on you for sorting through it all.

I find it more shocking that I bin 2 bags worth of rubbish, charity shop 4 more from a cupboard that was full but closed, and then the remaining amount doesn't fit back in the cupboard.
Must be evil magic

@SushiSheep thank you 😊

Valid environmental concern is not "bitchy". Many relevant institutions are completely overwhelmed by "decluttering" trends & it IS going straight to landfill.
Literal zero interest in whether any complete strangers house are
" messy"🥱

But this stuff already exists whether it stays cluttering up the OPs house and affecting her mental health or she gets rid of it.

Some of it will get reused/recycled.

Of that which doesn't, chances are that a lot will get incinerated as this is what happens to most non recyclable household waste these days.

There's many people desperate to declutter but a very significant barrier is the guilt about what will happen to it and the effort required to go through the reuse/recycle treadmill.

What I find rather depressing is that I have a clearout and get rid of some quite large items, but the house still looks just them same...

I'm currently eyeing up DH's man stash on top of the wardrobe (cables, outdated electronics and all that other guff) but I daren't touch it lol.

Was simple enough question as bins were referred to initially, professional interest lies in environmental issues but let's make it about mental health 🤷‍♀️

There's always one 🙄

It will all end up in landfill one day whether the OP 'declutters' now or not. Your own stuff will, eventually, also end up in landfill.

In environmental terms, something going into landfill in 50 or 100 years' time isn't any better than something going into landfill tomorrow. Nobody is saving the environment by living in a house packed with stuff they don't need any more. If people buy stuff, throw it out and then replace it with new versions of the same stuff, that is bad for the environment, but that isn't 'decluttering'.

If you want to stop things going to landfill, then focus on encouraging people to buy fewer things in the first place and to think long-term when they do, rather than telling them off for taking their kids' old toys to a charity shop. Jeez.

But when the OP explained that she was giving it away to charity shops etc, you then said that those institutions are 'completely overwhelmed by "decluttering" trends & it IS going straight to landfill' so basically there was no answer she could have given that would have been acceptable for you.

And yes, of course mental health is affected by living in a house packed with hoarded stuff that's no use to you any more. There's nothing wrong with people pointing that out.

Let's all ignore that daft comment and move on

--------------

Well done, OP! I found it so satisfying doing a deep sort out before we moved last year. Unreal how much stuff I was able to get rid of once I got going. I love SYLO, it really made me think about the amount of crap I had!

Keep going. You'll feel GREAT after you've actually got rid of the stuff to the tip, charity shops etc.